The purpose of our research is to explore how children learn to read and spell words. Our studies are designed to test various aspects of a theory of printed word learning. According to the theory, printed word learning entails multiple component processes. Children must acquire general knowledge of orthography as a speech-mapping system. Such knowledge is needed to store orthographic images of words in memory and to utilize these with phonological, syntactic and semantic identities. Several interlocking goals characterize our research: to identify the course of acquisition of general print-speech knowledge; to study how this influences the learning of specific printed words; to determine the specific mechanism for retaining spellings in memory; to clarify the nature of orthographic images; to determine how variations in word learning experiences influence what is remembered about words; to explore individual differences in printed word learning.